Saturday, November 26, 2016

It seems that another innocuous word has now found its way into the left's rolodex of racist code language in the past weeks. This time, it's due to LeBron James's having taken issue with Phil Jackson's use of the word "posse" to describe LeBron and his business associates.

Seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing about how the left was insisting that "socialist" was a racist term to identify Obama in 2008 and beyond, even though "socialist" identifies adherents to a specific economic theory of redistribution, not anyone of a specific race. It was silly of me, I suppose, to do anything other accept the fact that when someone else happens to take a word in the wrong context because it is politically expedient for them to do so, that the word must then become verboten in the PC lexicon.

Take the word "thug," for example. I'd wager that those who claim it's a racist term never once used their finger muscles to google the etymology. (Hey, I grew up having to read about it in a book, Dewey Decimal, card catalog, the whole nine yards. I don't think I'm expecting too much here.) But the term, in fact, dates back to identification with the "Thugee" cult, a group Indian brigands and thieves. (That's the Indian subcontinent, not Native American.) Devotees of the cult were branded "thugs," and hence were eradicated by the British in the 1830s. The word became part of the lexicon to describe what they were -- brigands and thieves.

But then the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman encounter occurred in 2012. When accusations occurred about his having been a thief (for his having stolen things from other students' lockers) and a violent fellow who engages in the act of theft (i.e., a brigand), all of a sudden the fact that he was a young black man must have been the impetus for the use of the word to describe him, not those other things.

But let's just assume I go with all of that nonsense, and all the nonsense that came before. "You're right, PC police -- thug, socialist, personal responsibility, pickup trucks... all of the stupid shit you've offered over the years as racist code words are actually racist code words. You've got the cipher, and you're right! You cracked the code, congratulations!"

Even if I did buy all of that, I'd still refuse to buy the nonsense that Phil Jackson's use of the word "posse" in describing LeBron James's professional clique is racist. When I hear the word "posse," I think of western movies, or those eclectic clown rappers that my suitemate in my first year in college loved. When anyone, anywhere hears the word posse, they don't think of it with racial undertones.

But LeBron James did. "It just sucks now at this point," he said, "having one of the biggest businesses your can have both on and off the floor, having a certified agent in Rich Paul, having a certified business partner in Maverick Carter's that's done so many great business [deals], [sic] that the title for a young African-American is the word "posse."'

Oh, dear God, LeBron. Let me say this in a manner you might understand, and note, I'm being very careful in how I say this.

#SMFH

First of all, Jackson didn't suggest that the "title for a young African-American is the word "posse."" The word is plural.

Second, the word "posse" has its roots (again, this is just a Siri question away, fellas) in the Latin term "posse comitatus" which loosely translates to "force of the county." It has historically been used as a term to describe a group of law enforcement officials. It's common, modern use in language is in describing "a group of friends or associates." There is little, if anything, negative associated with it. You are inventing these racist undertones.

To think that the legendary Phil Jackson, all of a sudden, after a long career of having worked with the greatest basketball players ever to play the game (most of whom were black), meant to throw a snide racist snub LeBron's way? To believe that requires a level of stupidity that registers way beyond any scale of any acceptable scale of stupid comments I've heard in recent months. And I've been watching this past election closely, so that's saying something.

Friday, November 18, 2016

Amazing in the sense that I'm amazed at how slippery politicians can be, with Bill Clinton later stumping alongside his wife while advocating Barack Obama's complete disregard for federal immigration laws, and demanding that border agents break them by not capturing and deporting the lawbreakers.

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Like me, perhaps you woke up this week with friends on
social media applauding ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for excoriating Colin
Kaepernick for not supporting a candidate in the 2016 presidential election.

“He comes across as a flaming hypocrite,” said
a very angry Smith.“And as far as I’m
concerned, I’m not interested in a damn word that he has to say, and quite
frankly, I hope he goes away.”

Welcome to the club, Stephen.But I have a hard time joining my friends in
giving you kudos for now, and only now, voicing your discontent with him,
because there is something incredibly suspicious about your outrage.

Here’s why.

Smith, headlong into his angry tirade, said this: “[Kaepernick]
of all people, because of the position he took, because of the attention he
brought to the issues.The fact that you
don’t even have the decency to go to the poll and activate yourself in this
election, as our president said, is a damn shame.”

Most people hear that and think, “Well, he’s right. Everyone
should vote, because that’s what I’ve
been told since I was a kid. It’s your duty.Right on, Stephen A. Smith!”

Then, if you look a bit closer at the words he chose,
it should become clear that the broad “everyone should vote” message isn’t
really what he’s getting at.He cites
that he should have “activated” himself, “as our president said.”

The president did
say
that the black community should “activate itself,” but the context of that
statement that he cited is important.“I
will consider it a personal insult,” Obama told the Congressional Black Caucus
gala, “if this community lets down its guard and fails to activate itself in
this this election.You want to give me
a good sendoff? Go vote.”

The president wasn’t saying everyone should go vote
for whomever they please because it’s our civic duty to vote.He was saying he would consider it a
“personal insult” if black voters didn’t turn out to elect Hillary Clinton and
thus preserve his legacy, specifically.So
it’s extremely unlikely that Smith’s anger is predicated on the fact that Colin
didn’t participate in the election process, as his supposed civic duty might
require of him, though I admit, that appears to be the impetus for the rant on
the surface.After all, I don’t think
Smith would be applauding Kaepernick if he came out saying that he voted for
Trump.Smith is most likely angry, based
on this curious reference, because he didn’t get roused enough to “get his butt
to the polls” to vote for Hillary, whom I’d wager dollars to donuts that
Stephen A. Smith believes black Americans should have “activated” themselves to
vote for in response to the perceived institutional racism that Smith thought
Kaepernick meant to highlight.This is a
tantrum, and little more.

But here’s the real kicker, for me.Let’s climb out on the limb and assume that
Smith really is outraged on principle, and that he really thinks Kaepernick not
voting at all, not even having “the decency” to write in a candidate of his
choosing (which would have been ultimately futile and a waste of his time, let’s
be honest) makes him a “flaming hypocrite” and that he “betrayed his cause.”That’s still
not entirely accurate.Kaepernick’s
refusal to vote is actually pretty consistent with the purpose of his stupid “protest.”

First of all, Kaepernick has been extremely critical
of both candidates, calling Trump “obviously racist” while suggesting that
Hillary Clinton is also a racist, and should probably be in jail to boot.

Fact is, he’s actually painted Hillary
Clinton in a less favorable light than Trump, which as
I’ve noted, really upset those among the left that were paying
attention.Furthermore, the underlying
statement Kaepernick has hoped to make was that there are systemic problems in
America that go beyond who may or may not be the president.Just as he refuses to stand for the
time-honored celebration of the national anthem, his refusal to take part in
the time-honored American election process could be considered part and parcel
of the same ideological position of protest.

“To me,” Kaepernick said of Clinton and Trump, “it
didn’t really matter who went in there.The system still remains intact that oppresses people of color.”

Now, I will say that he is completely wrong in that
position, and that he remains the uninformed idiot that he has always been.And personally, I believe when uninformed
idiots do not vote, the country is the better for it.But to call him a hypocrite for it isn’t
really fair, either.

Point is, there’s really not a lot to be impressed
about in Smith’s angry rant about Kaepernick.It’s a tantrum disguised as middle-of-the-road criticism, and at the
very best, an expression of his disappointment that Kaepernick didn’t fall in
line to do the one thing that Stephen A. Smith thinks all black people should
have done in response to the perceived institutional racism Kaepernick highlighted
with his protest -- i.e., he didn’t vote for Hillary.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

In his recent article at the New York Post, Rich Lowry gave Westerners a much-needed reminder that, while hashtag campaigns and the tri-colored filter on your Facebook profile pic may make you feel better, it's really not very useful beyond that.

From the article, referencing the #JeSuisCharlie hashtag fad from earlier this year:

After the slaughter at the offices of the satirical French magazine Charlie Hedbo earlier this year, it was “Je suis Charlie,” or “I am Charlie.”It was a well-intentioned expression of solidarity, so long as you overlooked the absurd presumption of it.You are Charlie? Oh, OK. Then draw a sketch of Muhammad and post it online. Better yet, do it over and over again, until you get constant threats and your office is firebombed, just as a warm-up.No, you aren’t Charlie. (For that matter, Charlie isn’t even Charlie anymore — it’s given up on mocking Islam for understandable safety reasons.)Last year, when the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped 200 schoolgirls, Twitter exploded with the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. First lady Michelle Obama held up a sign with the phrase on it. If Boko Haram was shamed by its Twitter feed, it showed no signs of it. The only girls who were brought back escaped on their own. The Nigerian military has rescued other girls, armed with weapons considerably more powerful than a hashtag.

[...]

Spare me the #PrayforParis hashtag. Forgive me if I’m unmoved by lighting world landmarks up in red, white and blue, or your putting a tricolor filter on your Facebook profile picture. And please don’t tell me, in the words of the designer Jean Jullien, that “in all this horror there’s something positive that people are coming together in a sense of unity and peace.”Nothing positive comes from innocents getting shot down in cold blood for the offense of going to a concert on a Friday night. It [sic] there aren’t going to be more — and worse — attacks in our cities, the path ahead won’t be one of unity and peace. It will be the hard, thankless work of protecting civilization from its enemies.

Lowry's piece couldn't be more necessary or timely, and I definitely suggest you give the whole thing a read here.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

I happened upon an article on Yahoo! Parenting which struck a chord with me as a father. "A Mom Called the Police on My 3-year-Old Son After a Playground Accident," the title read.

Sounds ridiculous, I thought. Cops called on a three-year old, what nonsense! So like a dope, I read beyond the Yahoo! tease, which includes this provided picture:

I'll spare the bulk of the details, because as I discovered, they really don't matter. Long and short, the mother of the little girl whom the author's young boy accidentally knocked over while riding bikes decided to call the cops over the incident.

The other mom requested an ambulance for her daughter, and sought to press charges, presumably because the young ruffian was allowed to roam so indiscriminately.

The cops were as forceful as you might expect human beings to be in response to a three year-old boy accidentally knocking down a two year-old girl:

"Look," the other police officer tried to explain to the other mother, "I can see him crying from here. It was an accident. It's not like he did it on purpose.""

The little girl got a ride to the hospital in an ambulance. And to calm any concern you might have up to now, the young boy is fine, too, despite having been a bit shaken up by the incident. He's "back on his scooter and hasn't mentioned the incident again," the author says.

And while that cop likely had a "You wouldn't believe these silly suburban moms today" story to tell his wife when he got home, the author, on the other hand, is traumatized.

She's still furious. She's scared. Her "black son just had his first police interaction at age 3."

And just like that, it became clear that this story wasn't about her son or that other mom at all. They were just avenues to write a hip new #BlackLivesMatter article.

She goes on:

I'm glad the police were reasonable and straightened things out. Perhaps in this instance, it was best they were there to handle what was obviously a touchy situation. In this instance. This time.

Geez, she's not even trying to hide her contempt for cops.

"To be the mother of a black son," she continues, "is to be scared for them, constantly."

Being a parent is to be scared for your child, constantly. Not a day goes by where I don't fear for my own children's lives, many times over. It's part of the human condition, and mothers with black sons certainly don't have a monopoly on it.

I guess we can thank her for at least presenting these cops in a somewhat positive light, "in this instance." But she's definitely worthy of derision for perpetuating the dangerous, and completely untrue, myth about bloodthirsty, racist cops being out to get poor, defenseless, and innocent black kids.

I don't expect that any facts will change author Emily McCombs' mind. I wouldn't expect that any more than the facts of the Michael Brown case, having thoroughly destroyed the bullshit "Hands up, don't shoot!" narrative, could change the minds of other people so devoted the myth that they took the opportunity of the incident's anniversary to protest the epidemic of white, racist, murderous cops.

But I will say this, Emily. If your young son is ever arrested by a cop, it will most likely be because he did something wrong. So if you're really worried to death about him getting arrested, you should probably devote all your energies to teaching him to not do things that are wrong.

And if he grows up fearing the phantom specter of a cop that's out to get him at every turn because he's black, it will be your fault. Not society's. Not the cops'. Yours, and yours alone. Because you have the opportunity to teach him something different to help him become a better person. And you will have squandered it in order to keep your fabricated worldview alive.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Last month, two gunmen
opened fire at a “Draw Muhammad” cartoon contest in Garland, TX. They were apparently driven to a murderous
rage by the thought that the prophet, all powerful though he may be in the
afterlife, might be offended by people drawing his picture. Thankfully, their opposition to the First Amendment was answered by a devotee of the Second, as a traffic cop shuffled them off this mortal coil with a few well-placed bullets.

If you find drawing some silly cartoons a sad and stupid reason to be targeted for murder, join the club. It got me thinking, though, about the context of all this. And no amount of media spin can make the contrast between the contemporary followers of Islam and Christianity any less stark.

As a young
Christian child circa 1992, I was first made aware of this stimulating piece of
art:

That's a picture of Jesus Christ submerged in "artist" Andres Serrano's urine. Believe it or not, I
wasn’t taken aback by the fact that my mom and dad weren’t demanding the death
of the guy who put the likeness of my Lord and Savior in a bowl of piss and called it art.

This was, early on, a
lesson in life: There are those who
believe in things other than my beliefs, and even those who would ridicule my deepest
convictions for fun.

Then, and over the years, I’ve
learned to laugh at it. And why would I
not? They're sad little people, those who would insult me and my innocent choice to find faith in God -- the God of peace and love and tolerance for one's fellow man.In my religious conviction, I never even considered that Andres Serrano should die for his insult, nor did I ever wish ill will toward anyone else who disagrees with my faith or would ridicule my personal beliefs in such a way. Why? Well, two reasons. One: Because I am right, and they are wrong. Plain and simple. God will vindicate that choice, so I have no need to spur worldly recompense in His stead. Two: My God's instruction doesn't entail directives to harm anyone who might disrespect His image. Blasphemy is sin, but I am not the judge in that ethereal and prospective Court.

In hindsight and in
consideration to those other faiths that require worldly justice for
such insults? I just count myself lucky that I'm not a savage, indoctrinated to commit hateful
acts for such trivial nonsense.

And the furor over a Muhammad cartoon
is just that. Trivial nonsense. Look:

There are millions of Muslims who would kill over that innocent picture (which is the unveiled message that the image conveys). Millions more would not kill, but would understand the impetus to kill over it.

Would Jesus Christ truly care
about Andres Serrano putting his likeness in a vat of urine, or the millions of
people who celebrated it? Or some unbeliever casting his likeness in ink? Would my God have me murder someone else in His name for something so insignificant?

No. And as for Muslims who
would either commit violence or sit silent as their religious cohorts attempt
murder over something so stupid as a Muhammad cartoon, well… they are threats to a pluralistic society and/or complicit fanatics which must be removed from our culture with which they and their beliefs are not compatible.

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